Cyberpunk 2077: 11 Tips & Tricks The Game Doesn't Tell You

3. Read As Many Shards As Possible

Another gargantuan open world, another set of collectible text entries that flesh things out.

However, while the likes of Bethesda's open worlds tend to use additional text to create fictional in-world authors with strings of novels you can find, some of Cyberpunk's most essential narrative grounding and world building is tucked away inside Shards.

From different scientists and researchers exploring just what "cyberpsychosis" even is, to what's happened in the intervening years between 2020 to 2077 (the time period between the original book's setting and the game), there are breakdowns of each of the major corporations flooding the skyline, or a writeup of how a specific bike engine handles on the road.

The jury's out on how much a game should frontload its world-building vs the reward of seeking it out yourself, but CDPR wrote a TON of text for all the shards, and honestly, it's almost all worthwhile.